Karnataka govt restrains officials from going before media

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Saturday restrained officials from going before the media to air their grievances or share opinions, other than for bonafide official purposes.

It also put a stop on officials using social media as a platform to project government or department achievements as personal achievements and asked them to use accounts or handles created in the name of the administration to share official information.

“Government officials making unwarranted statements through press statements and press conferences have come to the government’s notice. As such incidents will have ill-effects on the administrative system and cause embarrassment to the government. The government has viewed such conduct of the officials seriously,” an official circular said.

Signed by Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar, it said, officials have hence been prohibited from making unwarranted statements through press statements and press conferences, other than for the purpose of performing bonafide official duties.

Citing service rules, the government said disciplinary action would be taken against officials found making use of unwarranted platforms to express their personal opinion and indulging in any act that causes embarrassment to the government in violation of rules and policies . It further said officials can only use the media to share official information on government programmes and for necessary official duties, but not to air their grievances.

Use of social media platforms to project government or department achievements as personal achievements have been strictly prohibited, the circular further said. At the time of publicising information on department achievements and government programmes, officials, instead of using their personal social media accounts, should use accounts or handles created in the name of the government or administration, it added.

The circular has come after Revenue Minister R Ashoka on Thursday had told the legislative assembly that the government will instruct the Chief Secretary to take action against “overacting” officials who directly go before the media to level charges or air grievances.

He was responding to an issue raised by JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and his party MLA Sa Ra Mahesh, accusing some IAS officers of making allegations against legislators before the media. Mahesh was referring to IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri, who was previously the Mysuru Deputy Commissioner, both of whom had accused each other of irregularities.